Bird
Raised Fist0

When implementing a global arbitrator to manage fork allocation among N philosophers, what is the impact on system scalability?

medium💡 Conceptual Thinking Q5 of Q15
Operating Systems - Dining Philosophers - Problem, Deadlock & Solution
When implementing a global arbitrator to manage fork allocation among N philosophers, what is the impact on system scalability?
AArbitrator complexity decreases with more philosophers
BArbitrator reduces contention by parallelizing fork access
CArbitrator eliminates all synchronization overhead regardless of N
DArbitrator introduces a bottleneck, increasing contention as N grows
Step-by-Step Solution
Solution:

  1. Step 1: Understand arbitrator role

    The arbitrator serializes fork allocation requests.

  2. Step 2: Analyze scalability

    As N increases, more philosophers contend for the arbitrator, causing delays.

  3. Final Answer:

    Option D -> Option D

  4. Quick Check:

    Single point of control limits scalability [OK]
Quick Trick: Single arbitrator serializes access, limiting scalability [OK]
Common Mistakes:
MISTAKES
  • Assuming arbitrator parallelizes access
  • Believing arbitrator removes all overhead
  • Thinking complexity decreases with more philosophers
Trap Explanation:
PITFALL
  • Misunderstanding arbitrator as parallelizing rather than serializing access
Interviewer Note:
CONTEXT
  • Evaluates understanding of scalability and contention in centralized control
Master "Dining Philosophers - Problem, Deadlock & Solution" in Operating Systems

2 interactive learning modes - each teaches the same concept differently

SolutionTrace

Want More Practice?

15+ quiz questions · All difficulty levels · Free

Free Signup - Practice All Questions
More Operating Systems Quizzes
Context Switch - Cost & Causes - Context Switch - Cost & Causes - Quiz 3easy Critical Section Problem - Requirements & Peterson's Solution - Critical Section Problem - Requirements & Peterson's Solution - Quiz 14medium Process State Machine - Five-State Model - Process State Machine - Five-State Model - Quiz 1easy Producer-Consumer Problem Using Semaphores - Producer-Consumer Problem Using Semaphores - Quiz 15hard Producer-Consumer Problem Using Semaphores - Producer-Consumer Problem Using Semaphores - Quiz 3easy Round Robin Scheduling - Quantum & Turnaround Time - Round Robin Scheduling - Quantum & Turnaround Time - Quiz 2easy Semaphore vs Mutex - When to Use Which - Semaphore vs Mutex - When to Use Which - Quiz 6medium Starvation vs Deadlock vs Livelock - Differences & Examples - Starvation vs Deadlock vs Livelock - Differences & Examples - Quiz 9hard System Call - Mechanism & Modes (User vs Kernel) - System Call - Mechanism & Modes (User vs Kernel) - Quiz 6medium TLB - Translation Lookaside Buffer & Effective Access Time - TLB - Translation Lookaside Buffer & Effective Access Time - Quiz 1easy